Copyright Information: Copyright SHTFplan and Mac Slavo. This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.shtfplan.com. Please contact us for permission to reproduce this content in other media formats.

Absolutely right, because most of the rioters would be mega-pissed that their pet program got cut (mostly because pretty much *all* of them would have to see some hard cuts).

Hell, we can’t even get the bastards to chop back massive spending increases without some lobbyist group wallpapering the news with “OAMG those bastards are cutting aid to old-people|children|poor-people|women|sick-people|abused-kittens|some-ethnic-group|pregnant-teens|etc! CALL your congressman and DEMAND that they stop cutting {program name here} !!!111!”

Everyone from the AARP to the Zero Population Group is guilty as hell of doing this.

Until you can line up lobbyists along the wall and start throwing lead at ’em, we’re quite frankly doomed.

It is time to go back to real money – gold and silver backed. There is no way that we be in such a mess as governments and banks could invent precious metals like they do with fiat money. I doubt you would see govs giving silver welfare payments or sending of gold to foreign dictators. I’m not saying it would not happen or it would be perfect but the incidence of such activities would be minimal.

If the government stuck to it’s constitutionally mandated duties then budgets would be a fraction of what they are at present. Limiting the right of franchise to the Founder’s intent ala Starship Troopers is a necessary first step to reining in the present monster that is our government. When the people discover they can vote themselves bread and circuses then the voting must be restricted to those who actually pay for that bread and those circuses.

I’d much prefer Heinlein’s idea, where you have to be a veteran to vote or run for office, and for the same idea: If you’re willing to put your life on the line for the country, then you’re worthy enough to help determine its future direction. It would also shed a whole mountain of idiots from the voting rolls…

* Everyone has basic, inviolable rights, guaranteed by constitution and law. Those could not be removed or abrogated under any circumstances, period.

* The one and only difference was that in order to vote or hold office, you had to be a veteran.

* anyone could be a veteran – no matter what. Paraphrasing here, but “even if you were blind, crippled, and deaf, we would take you in, and as your job make you count caterpillar hairs by touch for two years on Neptune’s Moons.” The idea was that you endured a little hardship or risked your life for your country, before you were allowed to help run it.

What do you think we got with “Hope and Change?” Virtually all the key players in the federal government today were educated and indoctrinated by the hippie survivors of the 60’s and 70’s street “disturbances.”

If you recall in the book Starship Troopers (not the terrible movie by the same name) the governments of the western world collapsed after a disastrous war with China and its allies and there was a period of time when rule of law had broken down. But before that had happened, western society had spun out of control with extremely high taxes, overregulation, and a general rise of criminality. When I read that book, the parallels with this society are shocking. In the end it was the veterans of the losing war with China who eventually took over law and order, and the government and set things straight.

I consider anyone who actually pays money they earned to the IRS to be a taxpayer. We both (I think) know that there is a huge number of people out there that not only don’t pay taxes, but are supported by the system through the people who do.

To restate my position/preference: You pay for the government, you get to vote for who administers it. You don’t pay for the government, you don’t get to have any say in who administers it.

Not complicated.

“Even then, do you mean before or after tax credits, loopholes, deductions, etc.?”

How about after all the above.

You bought your house, car and food (I’m assuming)? Would you like to be the one who says who lives in, drives or eats those items?

Or would you be satisfied if the general public at large just voted on the best use of them?

Wait wait, how does this sound?
See this one? It was a grant to study shrimp on under water treadmills. You better hang on to that one.
And see this one here? It’s to teach Chinese hookers how to put condoms on properly.
Shall we look at some more?

There is a perception that we borrow more from China than we do. I’d also like to know what debts of ours the Chinese have bought in the last 6, 12 or 18 months? My understanding is most of the new debt is bought by the Federal Reserve that just prints it. The last I saw published we owed the Chinese about $2 trillion? Less than 1/6th of our debt load. Still a chunk mind you.

My guess is they want to inflate their way out of it. Probably some politicians just holding them back from that…..and they don’t want to hyper inflate while their chosen one is in office….that has to be put off past Jan 2013.

Hey Mac: This article is just what I was thinking this morning after I read your first post of the day ! Being a Damn Yankee….I have a fair amount of experience driving in winter weather. There is nothing quite like the feeling of applying your brakes at 40 mph…..and them doing absolutely nothing because you are on a sheet of ice. It actually feels like you are accelerating……when your brain realizes that the 4,000
projectile you are riding in….is no longer under your control. Sometimes it is like slow motion…..where you see that big old tree in front of you…..that you are going to hit…….and can do nothing about ! You are just along for the ride. That is the way I feel that the US Economy is going……I can see the tree…..I know we are going to crash……I keep stomping on the brake pedal……but it feels like things are increasing in speed ! What I can’t figure out….is how long we have…one day,….a week,…..a year ?? And even more puzzling to me is the amount of people that don’t have a clue. You try to tell them…..and they nod their heads….but you know that they are going home to watch Dancing with the Stars……& will never think about preparing. We just all need to make the most of every day to get our houses in order….before the crash.
Montgomery County Texas

Richard:
When you refer to stealing from the federal workers’ retirement fund, are you referring specifically to the surplus dollars not needed to pay current benefits that go into the trust funds?
I understand there is a liability of about $5 trillion owed to federal retirees on the government’s balance sheet.
Don Levit

It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend th…e night. The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel. The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna. The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit. The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note. The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town. No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works

Keep things short and sweet. I am feeling generous, so I hope anyone with any degree of intellectual curiosity will read.

It’s very simple: we must heed natural law, as described in the Declaration of Independence.

The current government is a ruthless Tyranny, and it must be abolished. It is an utter Travesty.

It is infested with politician criminals who make blood money through insider trading (amongst other things), which is considered legal for them alone.

At the same time, they are in that bastion of corruption D.C. everyday contemplating how to further self-aggrandize themselves and their control over the reins of power.

The idiots of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements are too benign and silly, truly, to make any difference. They still believe that the WTC event was NOT orchestrated by insiders of the military industrial complex for their own hegemonic impulses.

They will never succeed at allowing individual countries (in the form of the States) to reestablish their autonomy from the federal monster.

Thus, all one can say is, “Sic Semper Tyrannis.” This alone stands the test of time. If you don’t know the meaning, look it up.

Once this correction has been completed, Intermediate Wave III of Major THREE will be underway. This should be the largest and strongest wave in the entire gold bull market. The target for this wave should be around $4,500 with only two 13% corrections on the way.”

Gold is going to go bonkers in the long-run, but I am still a little hesitant about saying “go all in” right now with Europe at the breaking point. That capital shift back to US Treasuries may drive everything down… But gold probably has a solid floor at or around $1000+. Wave III will probably result from our own Europe-style crisis — it’s around this time that I can see the ‘great gold decoupling’ many have been discussing over the last few years.

Real Currency in SHTF scenario
Food
Water
Medicine including antiseptics
Gold/Silver (questionable as it doesn’t hold value all the time)
Alcohol
Tobacco
Fuel
Firearms and ammunition
A roof over your head

The content on this site is provided as general information only. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the author(s). The author may or may not have a financial interest in any company or advertiser referenced. Any action taken as a result of information, analysis, or advertisement on this site is ultimately the responsibility of the reader.

SHTFplan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.